A discussion about issues, appellate decisions, and other news of interest to Kansas defenders. This site does NOT necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the Appellate Defender Office or of the Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services. Nor does this in any way constitute legal advice or is it even warranted to be remotely accurate! It is intended to be a resource for Kansas defenders and others interested in the criminal justice system in Kansas.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Exclusionary rule reaches evidence of identity

Barbara Mandell, a federal public defender from New Mexico successfully defended a suppression order in U.S. v. Olivares-Rangel. The Tenth Circuit agreed that evidence of identity should be subject to the exclusionary rule, rejecting the government's claim that such evidence should fall under the rule that you can't suppress a person even if their arrest was illegal. The Tenth Circuit agreed that the rule only says that a defendant can't claim the trial court lacks jurisdiction over his person after an illegal arrest.